THE sex trade of Pattaya could be linked to Peter Sinnott's death, his family believe.

The notorious resort is 100 miles south of Bangkok and attracts two million British, German and other tourists every year. Many tourists travel to Pattaya for its cheap prostitutes, some of whom are children. Prostitutes are thought to account for nearly one-third of Pattaya's population.

Peter Sinnott, pictured, was invited to Pattaya for a holiday with friends but was found dead on the resort's beach on January 5, 2002.

His family believe that he may have come under pressure to escort a female, possibly a child, to South Africa as part of the organised movement of Thai women into South Africa's sex industry.

In 1999 a Thai government report estimated 3,600 Thai women were working as prostitutes in South Africa's main cities - Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town - and that the number had recently doubled.

Some Thai women say they were lured to South Africa with promises of work permits and jobs such as waitresses and night-club dancers but were then forced into prostitution.

Scores of tourists die in Pattaya every year, suffering heart attacks after being drugged by prostitutes who steal their belongings.

Peter Sinnott's death was unusual as the cause was drowning in the sea, a method a prostitute would be unlikely to use.

Pattaya is also a centre for trafficking in illegal drugs, and Peter Sinnott's family believe that he could have been pressed to carry drugs to South Africa.

Judith Sinnott says her brother would have been outraged if he had been asked to smuggle drugs or escort a person out of Thailand.

"He was such a decent person, with very strong principles.

"People admired him for it," she said.

David Melding, Conservative AM for South Wales Central, visited Pattaya 10 years ago for a conference on street children.

He was unwilling to comment on Peter Sinnott's case but said he had been shocked by the scale and openness of the resort's vice.

"Sometimes the prostitutes are chained in rooms. It's virtually imprisonment," he said.

"Crime is rife in Pattaya. Connected with the sex trade there's a drugs trade."

He said that during his visit the police appeared to be corrupt in that they allowed blatant prostitution to continue but officially denied it existed.